I identify myself with Louis Jordan more than any other artist
~Chuck Berry
In the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Museum: Louis Jordan:
Continue reading July 8: Louis Jordan was born in 1908, 107 years ago
The Beatles 40 best songs: at 40 “All You Need Is Love”
“All You Need Is Love” was a number one single in mid-1967, becoming the unofficial hippie anthem for the Summer of Love, that brief time that ranks among the most optimistic periods in popular music and culture. It is to the Beatles’ credit that the song endures as a pop classic today, removed from its original context.
~Richie Unterberger (allmusic.com)
We kick off our countdown of The Beatles 40 best songs with “All You Need Is Love”.
Wikipedia:
“All You Need Is Love” is a song written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was first performed by the Beatles on Our World, the first live global television link. Watched by over 150 million in 26 countries, the program was broadcast via satellite on 25 June 1967. The BBC had commissioned the Beatles to write a song for the United Kingdom’s contribution.
“I don’t think it was written specially for it. But it was one of the songs we had. … It was certainly tailored to it once we had it. But I’ve got a feeling it was just one of John’s songs that was coming there. We went down to Olympic Studios in Barnes and recorded it and then it became the song they said, ‘Ah. This is the one we should use.’ I don’t actually think it was written for it.”
~Paul McCartney
Probably written ~100% by John Lennon.
Continue reading The Beatles 40 best songs: at 40 “All You Need Is Love”
July 7: Ringo Starr was born in 1940 Happy 75th Birthday!
July 7: Ringo Starr was born in 1940
Ringo was a star in his own right in Liverpool before we even met. Ringo was a professional drummer who sang and performed and was in one of the top groups in Britain, but especially in Liverpool. So Ringo’s talent would have come out one way or the other … whatever that spark is in Ringo, we all know it but can’t put our finger on it. Whether it’s acting, drumming, or singing, I don’t know. There’s something in him that is projectable and he would have surfaced as an individual … Ringo is a damn good drummer.
~John Lennon (Sept 1980)
Beatles accept award Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions 1988:
Nice tribute video from youtube:
From Wikipedia:
Richard Starkey, MBE (born 7 July 1940), better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for the Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He joined the Beatles in August 1962, taking the place of Pete Best. In addition to his drumming, Starr is featured on lead vocals on a number of successful Beatles songs (in particular, “With a Little Help from My Friends”, “Yellow Submarine”, and the Beatles version of “Act Naturally”). He is credited as a co-writer of the songs “What Goes On” and “Flying”, and as the writer of “Don’t Pass Me By” and “Octopus’s Garden”.
Continue reading July 7: Ringo Starr was born in 1940 Happy 75th Birthday!
21 John Lennon songs that would have been great Beatles songs
Definition of BEATLESQUE:
of, relating to, or suggestive of the musical style or technique of the Beatles
– Websters Dictionary
There are songs by the members of the Beatles that were not used by them but that re-appeared on their solo albums. Songs that was written in the last days of The Beatles and discarded for some reason or another. A lot of songs suffered that faith, not just Lennon songs, but some of the best songs from George Harrison and Paul McCartney’s first albums as well. Some of John Lennon’s stuff from that area would not be out-of-place on a Beatle record (nor some of George or Paul’s songs for that matter).
Today we are looking at John Lennon’s solo output. I will pick his most Beatle-sounding songs, songs that would fit in on an album by the Fab-Four. Some from the last days of The Beatles, some from later albums. This isn’t supposed to be a best of John Lennon list (but maybe it is…), but his most “Beatles sounding” songs , as I said, songs that would have been good enough for a Beatles album.
Please send in your suggestions in the comments.
Here is the post about Paul McCartney’s “solo Beatles songs”
Here are my choices for John Lennon:
Jealous Guy first appeared on John Lennon’s 1971 album Imagine.The song’s genesis came in India, after The Beatles attended a lecture by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi about a “son of the mother nature”. This inspired both Paul McCartney and John Lennon to write songs about the same subject. McCartney’s composition “Mother Nature’s Son” was selected for The Beatles (The White Album), while Lennon’s song “Child of Nature” was not. However, both were demoed at George Harrison’s Esher home in May 1968. The demo featured Lennon’s double-tracked vocal and playing an acoustic guitar. After that, Lennon continued to play it into the Get Back sessions. Eventually, the lyrics were scrapped and replaced by the now well known “Jealous Guy” lyrics for Imagine.
Three recordings of “Child of Nature” are currently known. The first is a demo of the song recorded at the home of George Harrison in May 1968. The second, on which George sings backing vocals, was recorded at Twickenham Film Studios on 2 January 1969. A third recording was made at Apple Studios on 24 January.
Continue reading 21 John Lennon songs that would have been great Beatles songs
July 6: The Grateful Dead: In the Dark (1987)
In the Dark, their first studio LP since Heaven, reverses that sorry trend. Its seven songs – averaging six minutes each, just like old times – hark back to the sprawling, easygoing charm of their hallowed American Beauty era. Despite nods to technology in the form of synthesizers, sound effects and a startling “programming” credit, this sounds more like a Dead record than anything they’ve done in years
~David Browne (rollingstone.com)The Grateful Dead’s last lineup returned intact for In the Dark, an album that ironically thrust the band back into the spotlight on the strength of the band’s lone Top 40 single, “Touch of Grey.” Fans had long mused that the Dead’s studio albums lacked the easygoing energy and natural flow of their live performances, and In the Dark does come close to capturing that lightning in a bottle.
~Dave Connolly (allmusic.com)
Touch of Grey
Continue reading July 6: The Grateful Dead: In the Dark (1987)